Urgent Care :: what's up with this shell

[andrewb]

How big is your turtle? 8cm approx? (sorry i live in the metric world)
How long have you had it? 9 months (it's 1 yr old)

What is the water temperature? 26 deg cel
Did you use a thermometer? yes
Are you using a water heater? yes
How much water is in there? 3/4 full
Are you using a water conditioner? clorine remover
Are you using any filtration? yep

What is the basking temperature? 30 deg
Is there a basking light? yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? zoo med
Is there a UVB light? yep

What have you been trying to feed it? repotin pellets
When was the last time your turtle ate? eating normally

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 60cm by 30cm wide by 30cm high
Is the tank near a window? not really
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? yep

Have you read the Basic Care section? yep
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? yep

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms no

So my turtle's shell has had these white spots/marks on them for the last few months, slowly they are moving to other areas of the shell also. don't seem to bother the turtle, they don't smell at all, the pet shop person said that it was normal for turtles as they grew up - i don't believe her though!
so is it a fungus or something else?
The turtle basks heaps, will sit up there when people are in the room, and is always active swimming around etc. Any help would be appreciated.

[steve]

It's a combination of some shedding and a fungal infection. The fungus is probably due to inadequate basking conditions/water quality. You need to go to a vet and if she/he agrees get a prescription of silver sulfadine (aka silvadene, aka SSD cream)... its prescription only but not too expensive.

[megcornell]

Also to help prevent the return of the fungus once you treat it, you want to look into improving your turtle's habitat. That tank is way too small for a turtle and therefore the water quality is poor and can lead to adverse health effects.
Here are some helpful links on proper set ups:
http://www.redearslider.com/indoor_overview.html
http://www.redearslider.com/habitat_gallery.html
http://www.redearslider.com/index_water_quality.html

[industrial_girl_2000]

The thing that bothers me the most about the affected scutes is that some of them have a green hue. That's not normal. I agree with what the others already said here about getting this little guy to a vet & evaluating your water quality.

Keep in mind also that hard water (water with a lot of minerals in it) can make a turtle's shell get white spots. The Calcium in the water can stain the scutes white. In this case, it isn't harmful for the turtle, but it just looks bad. The only way for the turtle to recover in this case is to shed the scutes. In the picture, it looks like some of the scutes are starting to lift a bit & I wouldn't be surprised if you find some shed scutes at the bottom of your tank. Shedding scutes is normal for RES's.

What kind of UVB light do you have? In addition to the prescription cream that Steve mentioned, a strong UVB light can help prevent fungus from forming in the future.

Keep us updated!

[marisa]

It looks like your turtle's got some algae on the shell and a fair number of scutes that should have been shed a while ago. In some cases if the scutes are retained too long, bacteria can build up and cause problems. None of those vertebral scutes (going down the spine) are ready to pop off?

What UVB light are you using and how old is it?

[grey goose]

When he basks, does he climb all the way out of the water? A turt needs to dry off completely when basking......

[SpotsMama]

To help a shell shed you can increase the amount of vitamin E containing foods in the turtle's diet. Here's a list. The turtle can get as much as - but not more than - a couple of servings off this list a week and it may help if vitamin e shortage was an issue. It won't do the trick all by itself, though. The turtle also has to be able to bask under a good UVB light and completely dry off - top and bottom - frequently.

Foods with vitamin e that are suitable for turtles:

Tomato
Sweet potato
Turnip greens
Blueberries
Apple skin

[andrewb]

I'm using a fluroresent tube uvb light, not exactly sure of the brand or anything. It's about 9 months old, so i'm replacing it in the next couple of weeks.
The turtle has been shedding some of its scutes over the last couple of months there are some others that are starting to lift. When basking it gets all the way out of the water, and spends plenty of time relaxing up there.
I'm doing water full water changes once a week - a new tank is on the cards when i can get the $$ together.


I live across the other side of the world to most of you - i'm in New Zealand. Herp vets are hard to come by. (the only one i found is a the local zoo and they don't take appointments) Is there anything else i could use - someone metioned Betadine somewhere on here a while ago. is that ok if i dilute it down?

[SpotsMama]

Betediine is good - you can sponge some on the turtle then let it dry before putting him back in his tank. But better is silver sulfadiazine as mentioned above by Steve. It's extremely effective. However, it looks like the fungus and retained scutes are very thick on your turtle so it may not be possible for a topical treatment to work very well until some of the badly infected scutes are shed and you can get to the fresh, thin layers underneath.

On the light, speaking from personal experience basking under a good UVB light is essential if the shell is to remain healthy. Tube fluorescents are good - just be sure to change them out every 6 months, get one that's strong enough to be effective, and keep it close enough to the turtle's back so he'll get the benefit of the rays. If you're using a tube, a Reptisun 10.0 is a very good choice. I think they are widely available. They aren't cheap but they are good. If you can't get that one, try to get something that's at least 5.0 preferably as high as 10.0 with the highest wattage you can find.

If you ever switch to a compact fluorescent, please be forewarned that the standards are different for the compacts compared to tubes. Come back on here and we'll share what we've learned about the compact fluorescents so you can avoid some problems.

[steve]

Andrewb, other vets should have silver sulfadine too, not just herp/exotics. It's also used for people, also through prescription in the US, but it might be different in NZ.

The kind of fungus in your pictures is very similar to the kind I encountered. It is very aggressive and betadine might not be very effective. A major benefit is that silver sulfadine works very quickly in early and even in mild cases. It probably won't have much effect on the marginal scutes in the back because it has penetrated pretty far. In that case, you will have to wait for those to shed and then apply the silver sulfadine because there will still be an active infection.